Khaled Bichara ( ar, خالد بشارة, ) (July 27, 1971 – January 31, 2020) was an Egyptian businessman and entrepreneur who served as the chairman of link.net and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especial ...

of Accelero Capital. Prior to joining Accelero Capital, Bichara was

of Orascom Telecom Media and Technology OTMT, group

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

and

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if ...

VimpelCom Ltd. VEON Ltd. (formerly VimpelCom Ltd.) is a Dutch-domiciled multinational telecommunication services company. It predominantly operates services in the regions of Asia, Africa and Europe. It is the 13th largest mobile network operator in the wor ...

, and executive chairman of Global Telecom Holding. Bichara played a pivotal role in the merger of

VEON VEON Ltd. (formerly VimpelCom Ltd.) is a Dutch-domiciled multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications, telecommunication services company. It predominantly operates services in the regions of Asia, Africa and Europe. It is the 13t ...

and Wind Telecom to create the world's sixth-largest telecommunications carrier.

Early life and education

Khaled Galal Bichara was born on 27 July 1971 in Cairo, Egypt. Bichara earned his B.Sc degree from

The American University in Cairo The American University in Cairo (AUC; ar, الجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة, Al-Jāmi‘a al-’Amrīkiyya bi-l-Qāhira) is a private research university in Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs ...

in 1993 with a major in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...

and a minor in business administration. He has also attended a number of professional and postgraduate courses, including the Executive Program for Growing Companies at Stanford University and another at the

American University of Cairo The American University in Cairo (AUC; ar, الجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة, Al-Jāmi‘a al-’Amrīkiyya bi-l-Qāhira) is a private research university in Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs ...

Institute of Banking and Finance.

Career

LINKdotNET

In 1996, after a short experience with Microlab, a software company, he co-founded LINKdotNET (at the time called LINK Egypt) an

Internet Service Provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides services for accessing, using, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non-profit, or otherwise privat ...

(ISP) company in Egypt. In 2000, he was appointed by

Orascom Telecom Holding Global Telecom Holding S.A.E. (GTH; formerly Orascom Telecom Holding) is a holding company based in Amsterdam, and a subsidiary of the multinational telecommunications services company VEON. GTH previously owned mobile network operators in multipl ...

as the company's Chief Internet Strategist. In 2002, Khaled Bichara was involved in a partnership between

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

and LINKdotNET which resulted in the launching of MSN Arabia, the first global portal of its kind in the region. LINKdotNET, under Khaled Bichara's leadership, acquired eight internet companies. This acquisition increased the workforce to more than 1,500 making the company the largest private ISP in the region. Khaled Bichara became a member of the board of directors at

in 2003. He was also recognized as the “Young Executive of the Year” by '' Business Today Egypt''.

Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A.

Bichara was appointed to head the fixed line and portal business unit at Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A., a subsidiary company of Wind Telecom S.p.A. located in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, in 2005. He was promoted in 2006 to the position of

of the company. During this period he was responsible for the transformation of Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A., initially a company on the downturn, in just three years, into one of the best performing mobile, fixed line and broadband integrated operators in the continent.

Orascom Telcom Holding

became the largest investor in LINKdotNET in 1999, with a 54% stake in the company. In 2000, Khaled Bichara was appointed its chief Internet strategist before joining the board three years later. In April 2009, Khaled Bichara was appointed the

(COO) of

, replacing the former officer Emad Farid. In November 2009, the company announced Khaled Bichara's appointment as the new group

saying “Khaled is dynamic, energetic and will be able to draw on his successful experience in the restructuring of Wind to gear the Group into a more aggressive period of growth and transform OTH into a more innovative, integrated and agile global company.”

Personal life

He was married to Marianne Bichara and has two children, Sherif Bichara and Galal Bichara. Bichara died in a car crash in

Giza, Egypt Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...

, on 31 January 2020 at the age of 48.

References

External links

Khaled Bichara Official website

Khaled's profile at Orascom telecom websiteKhaled Bichara in bt's Top 40 Executives Under 40
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bichara, Khaled 1971 births 2020 deaths Free Egyptians Party politicians Egyptian chief executives Egyptian people of Coptic descent Businesspeople from Cairo Chief operating officers The American University in Cairo alumni Road incident deaths in Egypt